Sweden declines EU trouble-shooting role[fr][de] 

Asked by journalists if Stockholm intended to seek a solution to the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia, which is holding up Zagreb's accession talks, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt bluntly responded 'no'. 

"Do we intend to do anything? The answer is 'no'. There were different blockages from both countries and I would say now it is time for a period of reflection." 

"This is a bilateral dispute. Responsibility for solving bilateral disputes rests with the countries themselves. They should not affect the accession negotiations, in our opinion, but they have done so. But now it's time for the countries to reflect and we'll see if that reflection, at some point in time, has any result," said Bildt, speaking to the press as he presented his country's EU presidency priorities in Brussels. 

Just days ago, Slovenia and Croatia shattered hopes that their long-standing border dispute was coming an end, each blaming the other for the deadlock (EurActiv 19/06/09). Both the French and the Czech EU Presidencies, and especially the European Commission, had invested considerable mediation efforts into trying to find a compromise. 

Bildt, who has an impressive personal record as a trouble-shooter in the Balkans during successive wars following the collapse of former Yugoslavia, cracked a few bitter jokes, suggesting he was keeping his distance from the region. He said "there is no business-as-usual in the Balkans, there is urgent business all the time," adding: "The Western Balkans can keep you very busy, if you have nothing else to do." 

Regarding Macedonia - which has been an EU candidate since 2005, but finds its accession talks frozen due to a dispute with Greece over the country's name - Bildt said it was "another bilateral issue" in which the UN could play a mediation role. He said the EU would support UN mediator and ambassador Matthew Nimetz, but again underlined that "responsibility for solving bilateral issues is primarily with the countries concerned". 

"You cannot expect the world to solve your bilateral issues," he stressed. 

Bildt also appeared to de-dramatise the latest gas crisis, which according to Commission President José Manuel Barroso could hit Europe "within weeks" (EurActiv 19/06/09). He suggested that the EU would not foot the bill for filling empty gas storage facilities in Ukraine. "We need to get hold of the relevant facts […] But it is a bilateral dispute. I am not aware of us having any money [for buying Russian gas to store in Ukraine]."

"Let me also point out the obvious," Bildt added. "There is a significant difference between summer and winter. And you can draw your conclusions from that."